Shola Kaye

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"An absolute professional, she was very easy to work with and her style is an entertaining combination of high energy, humorous tales and warm authenticity."

Shola Kaye, a self confessed introvert who was once afraid of presenting for work, is now a public speaking coach, an award winning speaker, author of a best selling book and an internationally acclaimed professional singer.

Based in London, Shola founded her company, Speak Up Like A DIVA, because she wanted to create a warm, supportive community for women in the workplace and female business owners, encouraging them to speak up and be heard.

Shola wrote her book, How to be a D.I.V.A. at Public Speaking: A Step by Step system to Engage your audience and present with Confidence, to support her coaching and to inspire more people to embrace making presentations. She argues that public speaking should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a threat. Using stories from her time on the road, she draws analogies between pop singing and public speaking and discusses the on-stage techniques of singers like Beyonce and Adele in a bid to make the subject more accessible.

As well as providing private coaching and corporate training for both men and women, Shola holds regular communications skills workshops and has created a variety of online courses. Her writing has appeared in Marie Claire, The Metro, Presentation Guru and other publications. She has also collaborated with Harper’s Bazaar magazine to create a popular workshop for women in business.

Shola’s career has been varied. Since leaving Cambridge University, she has lived on both sides of the Atlantic, working in the fields of banking, consulting, education and jingle writing. She has also recorded two albums, sung backing vocals for Florence and the Machine and worked as a Diana Ross impersonator.